On the banks of the Min River once stood the Fuzhou Arsenal, a significant site in China's modern history. Founded in 1866, it was the country's first large-scale shipyard, where engineers constructed China's earliest marine steam engines and a thousand-ton steamship.
More importantly, it became the birthplace of Western-style naval education in China, nurturing generations of pioneers with a global vision. Among its students was Yan Fu (8 January 1854 – 27 October 1921), an influential scholar who translated Thomas Henry Huxley's Evolution and Ethics into Chinese.
Today, the Arsenal has been transformed into the China Shipbuilding Culture Park. Visitors walking past its red-brick workshops and offices can still sense the spirit of innovation, courage, and openness that inspired reform more than a century ago.
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Reporter | Chen Siyuan
Videographer | Pan Jiajun, Liang Zijian
Video Editor | Pan Jiajun
Editor | Hu Nan, James Campion, Shen He
